The Times of London, in a profile of Michael Phelps that ran the other day, described the Olympian's hometown as "the blue-collar mill town of Towson."
This month, the China Daily reported that he hailed from "the mean streets of Baltimore."
So which is it, Hampden or The Wire?
Phelps is from Rodgers Forge, which might fairly be described to a world audience as Towson or Baltimore. But the street scene there isn't especially "street." And there were never any mills, just agriculture and the long-gone forge that gave the neighborhood its name.
Might not make for colorful copy, but the swimming great comes from a place best described today as suburbia.
"Towson was not a blue-collar mill town," said Joseph Coale III, author of a book on the area's farming history, Middling Planters of Ruxton, 1694-1850. "There's no mill near there. There's no stream near there."
Baltimore County spokesman Don Mohler said he'll happily set foreign journalists straight.
"We look forward to inviting them to the grand parade so they can see Towson in all of its full glory," he said.
How would Mohler describe the place?
"I would tell them Towson is simply the center of the swimming universe. Katie Hoff and Michael Phelps - I think there's no doubt."
Mohler noted the suggestion by Sun columnist Peter Schmuck that Towson declare its independence and compete as its own nation. With Phelps' eight gold medals and Hoff's silver and two bronzes, Schmuck wrote Sunday, Towson "would be fourth in gold medals and 12th in the overall medal count."
"In the 2012 Olympics, maybe we'll have the nation of Towson parade in," Mohler said. "I think the Chamber of Commerce as we speak is discussing secession plans."
On Phelps, no evidence, no photos, nothing
Eat, sleep, swim ... canoodle?
London's Daily Telegraph reports on Phelps' alleged love life under this headline: "Michael Phelps' girlfriend: Amanda Beard or Lily Donaldson?"
The piece says the Olympic champ recently has been "linked" to Donaldson, a British model, and Beard, a U.S. swimmer who did not advance to the finals in Beijing but can still brag about her nude Playboy pics.
The newspaper offers no evidence. No grainy photos. No eyewitness accounts. Nothing.
Proof enough for me! Any day now, I expect to see Phelps squiring both gals around his blue-collar mill town.
Messy after-hours dips in Columbia's pools
